‘The Networked Body’ is focus of public symposium May 16

Sophisticated technologies that integrate directly with the human body will impact areas from clinical care and sports to virtual and augmented reality.

EVANSTON - Wearable fitness trackers and heart monitors are ubiquitous today. But what about wearable technology that seamlessly integrates with the body to monitor vital signs, connect our brains to our computers and even jumpstart the heart after a heart attack? That’s the future -- and it’s not that far away.

“Rapid advances in academic and industrial research are establishing new ways to integrate sophisticated device technologies directly with the human body,” said Northwestern’s John A. Rogers, a pioneer in the field of wearable electronics who will deliver the opening lecture.

“The unique capabilities of these biocompatible systems have direct relevance not only to the future of clinical care, rehabilitation science, sports and fitness, personal health and biomedical research, but also to human and machine interfaces and virtual and augmented reality,” he said.

Other participants include David Camarillo of Stanford University, who will discuss sports and human performance; Mark Chevillet from Facebook’s Building 8, which recently built a brain-computer interface enabling users to type with their minds; and specialists from Gatorade, the Chicago Cubs, the U.S. Olympics Committee and the Air Force Research Laboratory.

The symposium, co-hosted by the National Academy of Engineering, will begin at 12:30 p.m. in the McCormick Foundation Auditorium of the James L. Allen Center, 2169 Campus Drive, on the Evanston campus.

Admission is free, but registration is required. A reception and demonstrations by faculty and student startups will follow the program.